The Land of Mañana

IThe urgency so many of us get use to in our daily lives, the I've got to have it now, I need it done yesterday, the pressure to constantly go, go, go. . . You know what I'm talking about. It is one of the things I wanted to escape. I wanted to change the pace of our family and my lack of ability to let it all go and just be in the moment. It is no easy task. Fortunately the place we decided to move to is known for being "The Land of Mañana". The pace out here and the expectations are completely contrary to anything I've ever experienced. In their mind there is always tomorrow and it is more important to take you time, enjoy life, and get to it tomorrow. People slow down, enjoy nature, enjoy meals together more, place less pressure on their kids, take time to meditate, to hang out on the plaza and listen to music while socializing .  

Perfect example of this way of life: My Mom and I stopped at a cafe to grab lunch. First of all, it was a charming place and you felt like you were walking into a house out of the 1950's. There was one woman waiting on everyone and running the register and one woman cooking all the food from scratch. There was one more woman who appeared to be in her 90's sitting in a pink ulpostered chair taking it all in. The waitress brought us menus after about 5 minutes and told us she'd be right back. Most tables were shared between different parties and one particular patron was an author working on something he needed to send to his publisher. He was quite talkative and a colorful character. After we placed our order she informed us there were several other orders in front of ours so it would be a little while. This is just the way it was, she was attentive but there was no hurry. The whole process took over an hour. It is strange and upsetting to most who are new to the area but you gradually learn to accept it and use the slower pace to your advantage. It can be frustrating if you are "in a hurry" but then you have to remember you are in the Land of Mañana. 

I'm learning; I'm trying to keep letting go. To live in the imperfect moments and truly enjoy each moment for what it is. In theory it's great in practice is is very hard. But I just do the best I can and which all we really can do. There is definitely a balance between getting it done and living in the land of tomorrow but I think most of us could use a little more of the latter. 

I'm a failure. . .

A blogging failure. I honestly have the best of intentions but then life happens and I'm living it. I had my Mother's Day blog ready to publish, complete with pictures but my computer crashed as I was about to hit publish. I neglected my kids and house to get it ready, and then "poof" it was gone. After that, I didn't want to face the computer for a while, so I didn't.

Instead I've been trying to enjoy every moment and soak it all up, because life it pretty amazing. However, it is hard because we are away from most of our friends and family and they want to know what we've been up to, so I will try to do better. It may not be pretty but I'll try to throw up some pictures of our adventure and some narration.

Life has continued to be pretty simple ( as simple as it can be with 5 kids aged 7 months to 11 years) and we've got some other big changes we are going to be pursuing( more on that later). One of my favorite parts about simplifying our house and getting rid of a lot of belongings is how much easier it is to keep it clean! AND I'm STILL working on this. We still have too much! It is crazy how much you have and how easy it is to accumulate.

So what have we been doing?

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On Mother's Day we hiked to a natural hot spring along the Rio Grande and soaked. Initially we got lost but then found the correct path and descended down into the gorge 500 feet with the crew. It was a perfect Mother's Day gift and all I wanted. We are going to focusing on experiences for "gifts" rather than things from now on.

The following weekend we toured the Enchanted Circle to look for wildlife and soak up the views. We ended up seeing elk, antelope, a bald eagle, deer and big horn sheep along with amazing views, so I'd say it was a success.

Wheeler Peak

In Eagles Nest

Palisades in Cimarron

A herd of Elk in the tree

Big Horn Sheep

Finished our tour with dinner with Wayne and Nora

Memorial Day Weekend we took a quick jaunt up to Colorado Springs, where we visited The Royal Gorge Bridge, Garden of the Gods, Pikes Peak, Manitou Springs and a quick drive by the Olympic Training Center.

Royal Gorge Bridge

View looking down from bridge - Over 1,000 feet down!

We got caught in a thunderstorm and had to walk a mile back down instead of riding the gondola because of lightening. Quite the memory!

 

Garden of the God

Simply Amazing!

Lu's Favorite thing was to jump down the steps. Thankfully G is pretty good at keeping up with her.

Balancing Rock

Pikes Peak

A lot of snow on top. They only had 13 of the 19 miles open. It started snowing harder while at Mile 13 and the ranger made everyone go back because the roads were becoming icy. It is definitely not a road you want to be on while it's slick.

G at the entrance of the training center

After that we headed east to Indiana to visit family driving 15 hours on our first leg. Yes, our kids are Road Warriors! We spent 5 days with family and enjoyed every minute. Sometimes you just have to pick up and go if you can.

The day after we got home Honey and Pops arrived and we have been sightseeing nonstop! More on that in my next post. Hopefully I can stay caught up.

 

We are loving it here and if you get  a chance to visit come on out!